


Bless You

by holmesiironman



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, Canon Divergence - No Hydra Takeover, F/M, Fluff, Sick Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-02-26 22:05:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2668061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holmesiironman/pseuds/holmesiironman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye gets ill and Ward wants to help<br/>But she's just found out he slept with May and she is heartbroken<br/>Will they work this out and become best friends once more?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Bit off Season 1 happy time fluff for ya'll at this hard time  
> (some of Skye's past is mentioned so beware of minimal abuse.)  
> Happy Reading :)

“Aaachhoo!”   
“Bless you.”  
“Aaachhoo!”  
“Bless you.”  
“Aaachhoo!”  
“Ble-”  
“Don't you dare.” May warned Ward from her position across the holotable opposite him. They had been getting briefed on a new mission for 7 minutes now and had only got 1/3rd of the way through the pile of paperwork sitting ominously on the edge of the holotable because of a constant flow of interruptions from Skye (who was sneezing) and Ward (who blessed her every time). Simmons yawned loudly and pawed at her eyes like a kitten, whilst Fitz looked on into the distance, brow furrowed in a deep frown. Looking over to Coulson, Skye saw he had his head buried in yet another folder and was muttering something quietly to himself. Skye then rested her gaze upon May, who was- to her surprise- studying Skye with squinted eyes like she was trying to see through her or something. Skye let out an involuntary shiver which was either due to the intense stare from May or the sudden change in temperature she felt. Deciding it must be the latter, she wrapped her light grey hoodie tighter around her petite body, pulling the hood up over her ears before crossing her arms firmly under her bosom, hands in armpits. 

Phil, deciding he finally had the rooms attention, cleared his throat and continued his reel of information. Usually, Skye would listen intently, eager to know about what was happening (she always had been curious) but there was a pounding in her head that made her feel slightly nauseous and she couldn't breathe through her nose, therefore the cargo thief from Tanzania held little of her interest. Instead, she let her mind wonder to none other than the solemn man stood next to her. When I say next to, I mean she could feel the heat radiating from him and had to restrain herself from leaning into him. She had been trying to avoid him, ever since she found out about him and May. It's not like she was jealous! At all. Okay... Maybe a little, but it's not like there was anything going on between them right? It was just a stupid crush! Except it was more than that for her and she knew it. 

The problem was (besides the unrequited love she had for her hunk of an SO) Ward was a super spy, and had soon figured out why she was averting his gaze and completing her training in record time with little complaint so she could lock herself in her bunk again. 

He refused to say anything about it to her though. Knowing she was hurt was hurting him enough as it was, never mind talking to her about it. Besides- he was still a little angry about the Miles situation. Anyway, it wasn't as if he was missing her or anything... wasn't as if he craved her presence or worried about her constantly or was actually afraid... 

There wasn't a lot that could scare Specialist Agent Grant Ward, but the 3 women on his team were definitely some of them. 

May for obvious kick-ass ninja reasons.

Simmons because of her incredible loyalty and determination- which always threw him off and kinda scared him a tinsy bit especially when she was mad- God help Fitz!

Then, there was Skye. 

She was his polar opposite. Loud when he was quiet, care-free where he was uptight, lazy when he was... well... Ward. Yet ever since he'd pulled her out of that van, he couldn't imagine his life without her. So yeah, it had stung more than he would like to admit when she'd choose to sit next to Fitz over him at breakfast, or when he'd give her 50 push-ups for being late, and she'd drop to the floor without a word, completing them and standing to attention like a good agent. He missed her sarcastic replies and easy quips. Not that he'd tell anyone how he was feeling. Obviously that was classified. 

Skye could be loud at the best of times so for her to be like this had his mind in turmoil. He had never seen her so quiet! In fact the exchanges of “Achoos” and “bless you's” before might have been the longest conversation they'd had since she figured it out. Ward and May that is. To say she was hurt by the revelation of their relationship was an understatement. She was devastated. Since her first day on the bus, she had felt something between them but had put it down to physical attraction rather than anything else. 

Then they had got closer after he became her SO- she would even have gone as far as calling him her best friend (not that he had many friends to compete with). 

After she had been shot, the banterous flirting they had always participated in now morphed into something deeper. And she knew then it wasn't just her who felt this way. Whilst she was still in the little make-shift hospital room downstairs, he had come to visit her one night and confessed that he'd almost gone out of his mind and that he couldn't lose her. She'd started to cry and then he'd leaned down, stroked her tears away with a calloused thumb and tenderly kissed her. 

She thought she'd melt right then and wanted nothing more than to rake her hands through his fluffy hair and develop the kiss but then there was Simmons with perfect timing as ever and he was pulling away from her mumbling something about getting better and he didn't come and see her again that night. 2 days later she found out. And it had all gone to hell.

1 week later and she was still doing her best to ignore him, hoping her feelings for him would just go away by sheer force of will. But, as luck would have it, here she was getting briefed at 10:30pm oN A FRICKIN SUNDAY, with the beginnings of a cold, standing right beside the man she was falling for- despite her best efforts. Sighing loudly- which earned her an unprofessional footstamp from Ward- she turned her attention to Coulson who was still reading off the papers in a monotone. She'd never hated a Sunday morning so much in her life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter I know I'm sorry I'm getting there  
> Have some SkyeWard fluff/mini angst  
> With a cliff hanger (DUN DUN DUUUUNNN)  
> Happy reading :)

Chapter 2  
A lifetime (33 minutes) later, they were dismissed from briefing. Shuffling out of the room one by one, they each parted their separate ways in the hallway with their missions. Fitzsimmons scurried off to the lab, practically singing about the night-night guns and some other crazy tec they wanted to take on the mission. May stalked off to the cock-pit, throwing a “arriving in 2 hours” over her shoulder before disappearing. That left Skye, Ward and Coulson. Coulson was a very perceptive man, therefore he easily sensed the awkwardness between his two agents. Never one to spare feelings such as embarrassment, he wasted no time in obviously excusing himself from the situation for a pathetic reason. Speaking loudly, he proclaimed his necessity for a bathroom break, blatantly winked at Ward before unbuttoning his blazer and striding off in the opposite direction to the nearest bathroom. Typical.

That, of course, left a very uncomfortable Ward and Skye. Skye groaned loudly, face-palming at Coulson's lack of tact. This resulted in a rare chuckle from Ward, to which she stuck her tongue out at him. He flicked her in the forehead. So she punched him lightly on a very toned- to her delight- chest. Narrowing his eyes, he pouted like a child, which stirred something in the pit of Skye's stomach. Before she could react, he was tickling her until she was screaming for mercy and had tears in her eyes. His own eyes dancing with laughter, Ward ceased his attack, meaning she stopped her attempt to escape. This left them with Skye's back to Ward's front. His strong arms encased her hourglass figure, her own hands covered his on her stomach, effectively anchoring them together. As their laughter ceased, the cloud of awkwardness that had previously dispersed had suddenly began to cloak them once more... 

Until Skye began to cough. Hacking coughs which had her whole body shaking and left her gasping for air. Spinning her around in his arms, Ward cupped her face with his hands. The panic she was feeling was evident across her face as she struggled to breathe. Speaking slowly, in his best SO voice, Ward did his best to soothe her.  
“Hey, hey! Take deep breaths. In through the nose. Jesus Skye you're burning up! That's it. Lets get you some water.”

Batting his hand away, she shook her head rapidly and took a step away from him. Her lips where pressed tightly together in a thin line in an attempt to halt the confession of her feelings for him that had suddenly rushed to her mind. Taking deep breaths through her nose, she walked backwards away from Ward. He was frowning now, a look of deep hurt swirling within those beautiful whiskey eyes of his and it made her chest hurt so much. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him though. God he was beautiful but seeing him look at her like she was about to break because of something he'd done was killing her. 

Yet she couldn't look away.

It was like watching a car crash.

Both horrifying and bewitching at the same time.

Eyes swimming with tears, she began to slowly shake her head, whilst still stumbling backwards away from him. She bit her lower lip to refrain from sobbing, which kind of backfired because, for a brief second, he took his eyes off hers to look at her lips, before returning to the eye-lock. A small yet intense move that made her want to scream and kiss him at the same time. She couldn't help the small sob that escaped her.

Apparently shaking her head had been a bad idea as now the room was spinning and she felt like she was floating away from her body. All of a sudden, it was so hard to keep her eyes open. Distantly, she heard Ward calling her name. How she wanted him to call her name in so many ways... but somehow she couldn't bring herself to respond. She was still staggering backwards, like bambi on ice but now she couldn't see properly and the pounding in her head was consuming.   
Suddenly, the backs of her knees were colliding with the sharp edge of the coffee table and her legs were giving way. She closed her eyes (bracing for the impact of the fall) therefore breaking the silent eye contact between them. 

But the floor never came.

Darkness did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter, more of a background chapter than a fluffy chapter but more to come i swear  
> Happy Thanksgiving!  
> Happy reading :)

Chapter 3

~~~~~~~There was silence. And the silence was deafening. She could see where she was. Smell the alcohol and tobacco. Could feel the rough material of the nightie on her skin. But she couldn't hear a thing. She was back in that kitchen on that night. 11 years old and terrified, she stood solid in front of a quivering 5 year-old. Polly. She never forgot their names. Her knees felt like they were about to give way and she was 87% sure she was going to throw up but she wasn't going to move from her spot in-between the child and her foster mum. Not when she knew what was coming next. Reaching out behind her, she felt the familiar small, sweaty palm clutch her own like it was yesterday. Her stomach clenched at the anticipation of what to come.

This wasn't the first time she had done this and it wouldn't be the last. When she'd return to the care home and her friends would ask her to tell them her stories like they always did, she'd tell them that she let them hurt her. 

And every time, they'd ask why. 

She'd tell them that she'd rather be in pain than see someone else suffer, which was true. However, she kept the real reason selfishly hidden. One of the many lessons she'd learnt in her 11 years was that feeling numb was some how so much worse than feeling pain. So she'd always take the beatings. For them. The dozens of tiny, pale faces that were etched into every fabric of her being. It is not in years in which we measure our age, but in the lives of those we touch around us. And by this, Skye was a hundred years old.

Yet what felt like a hundred years was only 13 and she could still feel the sting of the palm as it smacked her cheek. Could still feel the pounding of her heart in her face. She could feel the palm of the little girl Polly who she tried so bravely to save from the same fate she'd suffered tighten around her own hand. And the silence was deafening. 

Until, all at once, it came back. 

The noise.

A scream.

Hers.

Yelling.

The drunken foster mum.

Sobbing.

That was Polly.

Louder in the background came the sound of a TV from another room. The ramblings of a drunken woman whirled around her head and the pressure on her hand from the frightened little girl was increasing and increasing to impossible strengths. The sting in her cheek was becoming unbearable and there was a darkness eating away at the edges of her vision but still she tried to keep focused on the woman in front of her, to try and counter her next move as she slugged her beer and spat like a snake ejects venom. The room was swaying and the sobbing seemed to be getting louder, bouncing off the inside of her skull. Her throat was raw from screaming as another fist connected with her lip forcing her to her knees. The metallic taste of blood consumed her. White noise that had once been the TV pierced her skin like a steel knife. Punches were raining down on her again and again but she didn't once remove her hand from Polly's. Didn't once try to protect herself. Instead, she just let it happen. Until she felt nothing happen.~~~~~~


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this is more fluffy for ya'll  
> Debating whether to Smut this motherfucker  
> Idek  
> IT'S ALMOST THE MONTH THAT IS CHRISTMAS :D  
> I have my mock GCSE's next week though so both this and other works may not get a lot of attention  
> pleaaaseee bare with  
> Happy reading :)

Chapter 4 

Shooting up, hands buried in her hair, she gasped for air. Eyes wide, she scanned the room, her gazes still blurry from her deep slumber. Spinning where she sat until she felt the wall at her back she sobbed her way through struggled breaths. Sensing more than seeing a presence, she hit out in a feeble attempt to ward the silhouette away. She felt warm, strong hands grab her wrists as she lashed out, pulling her towards them. Still drowning in sleep, she screamed “No! No please! No please don't!”.  
“Skye. Skye. Hey, hey look, hey it's me! It's Ward. Skye it was just a dream. It's over. Okay?”  
Quietening, she looked up from the giant hands encasing her own to the handsome face of the man she loved. She couldn't help the sobbed that escaped her as she realised it was just a nightmare. She was tired, so so tired.   
Of remembering.   
But too scared to forget.

Searching her eyes for understanding, Ward heaved a sigh of relief as Skye came back to him. Closing his eyes briefly, he pulled her against his chest where she buried her face in the curve of his neck and sobbed. Even though he was curious and angry at the thought of what could've got her in such a state, he didn't push her for details. Instead, he encased her slim figure in his arms and buried his face in her hair, breathing in the vanilla fragrance of her shampoo. Pressing his lips to her head, he shuffled them so he was sat with his back against the wall and she was curled up on him, head still snuggled up in the juncture of his neck and shoulders. After a while, the shaking sobs subsided and her breath evened out so he knew she was asleep once more. 

When he went to lay her down in her bed, his forearm brushed against her brow which was far too hot for the nights temperature. Frowning, he gently brushed the hair that he noticed was sticking to her forehead off, so he could place his palm over it. His frown deepened when he felt the heat radiating off her. Deciding that she must have a cold coming on, he began to stand and leave her bunk to head to the kitchen a grab a bottle of water, when a strong little hand held onto his own, stopping him from walking away. Smiling softly, he attempted to unwrap it from his own, which only resulted in her groaning his name like a prayer. That stopped him like a bullet through the chest. Staring down at the sleeping figure as she mumbled and tossed in her fever-induced sleep, he took a moment to take in how beautiful she was. Her chestnut hair was sprawled out in contrast to the crisp white of the pillow. Her cheeks were flushed pink with the fever and her eyes were puffy from the crying. 

Yet she could've been a goddess. 

She was his goddess.

He'd stayed by her since she'd collapsed, thinking it was only from stress. Only now did he add the clues up (the way she wrapped her hoody round her body in the briefing, how warm her skin was pressed against his own when he was tickling her earlier, the cough that has racked her whole body, the eventual collapse and this fever-induced sleep) and come to the very obvious conclusion that his girl was sick. And obviously, he would take care of her.

Then it hit him. She wasn't his girl. Not after what he'd done. Unfortunately for Grant, Skye was stubborn and refused to hear him out. He'd trying to tell her countless times that he slept with May to release both their anger. That he didn't want to hurt her, or for her to think he was using her to burn of the effects of the staff. Quite the opposite actually. Grant wanted her more than he can ever remember wanting another girl in all his life. And he was so close to being with her but then he had to go and touch that damn staff and everything went tits up. 

Because he'd slept with May. 

A no-strings attached deal. 

And he'd kissed Skye after she'd been shot.

Because he loved her.

Which she didn't know.

Because she wouldn't speak to him.

Which brought them to here. 

As bad as it sounded, Ward was kinda enjoying having Skye not reject him- even if she was ill. However, he knew when she came back around, she would remember what he'd done and they'd go back to Skye avoiding him and Ward trying to get through to her. Not the best-friends they had been. Not the lovers they wanted to be. But the specialist and the rookie. 'Just like old times' he thought.

After a couple minutes of attempted escape from her grip, Grant sighed and gave up, concluding that all and any effort to go get the medicine was only distressing her more. Deciding instead to stay with her until she needed him, he propped her up- suppressing a laugh when her head lolled back- until he could squeeze in behind her. Ending up with his legs on either side of her own, his hands resting on her stomach, anchoring her to him. Her back lay flat to his chest, a comforting weight that warmed his body. Once again burying his head in her hair. Closing his eyes, he waited for sleep to take over him once more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG FFS   
> BUT IT'S HERE  
> ANNNnnnddddd it's not fab  
> BUUUT  
> IT'S CHRISTMAS TIMEEEE BABYYY!  
> so i am wishing you all the best for you merry times and I hope you all have a fantastic new years! I am guessing a lot of us need that fresh start   
> As always  
> Happy reading :)

Chapter 5

Warmth. Warmth was surrounded her, soft and safe. She could feel the steady beating of someone’s heart in her back- a voice in the back of her mind told her it was Ward. It nagged her to remember him waking her last night and she sunk back further into his comforting embrace, felt his strong arms tighten around her stomach. Groggily, she placed her own hands on top of his anchoring him to her and she fought back the urge to open her eyes and greet the day as she wanted nothing more with to stay here with Ward, the man she lov-

Shit.

Her eyes opened faster than a bullet shoots from a gun. It took everything she had not to sit up and move away from him. 

Shit!

She was suppose to be mad! She was meant to be mad so that he'd know how much he'd hurt her. Isn't that what she was trying to achieve when she broke their little happy spell yesterday before she... erm... wait? Hold up? What happened? Panic was beginning to set in now. Did they make up? Why has she forgotten? Did she confess something? Was she attacked? WAS THIS PERSON EVEN WARD?? She quickly discarded the last question by rubbing gentle circles into her bunkie's hands and ah! Yes. After months of close contact with him wrapping her hands in training, or helping her learn how to cook, or the way he set up a gun (in like 30 seconds?!?! Which is totally the hottest thing she may have ever seen besides Zac Efron doing push-ups shirtless on that 1am YouTube marathon that one time) meant that she knew his hands like they were her own.

Suddenly, the comforting warmth began ebbing away, replaced by a soldering heat that was everywhere. It engulfed her. A scorching hotness that clawed at her back and made the air in her lungs heavy. She increased her breathing, tried to force more air into her lungs in fear of the heat taking away oxygen. The loose t-shirt she was wearing clung to her skin as she began sweating profusely. Still half in a deep slumber, she feebly tried to kick back her sheets, which only resulted in her tangling them around her legs. In her half-asleep brain, she came to the conclusion that she was trapped by the sheets, and began kicking and moaning at them to release her.

Having simply no energy to fix the problem, and not being able to collect together a coherent thought, let alone a solution to fix it, meant Skye began to panic.

Flailing her arms around, her cries got louder as she shook her head from side-to-side as if to wake herself up. The heat was still engrossing her and she was all but ready to scream for help when she felt the arms around her waist tightening and lifting her to push her on her back with her head on the pillow, before retracting from the embrace around her hips. Sticking her hand out, Skye attempted to reach for the arms once again, feeling an abnormal sense of loss when she could no-longer feel them keeping her safe. She moaned louder, in an attempt to bring them back. 

It wasn't until a couple minutes later when she felt a cold flannel on her forehead and a bottle of water being raised to her parched lips that she realised he had even left the bunk. Her mind was clouded and she kept flickering between dreams and realities. 

Valuable note: fever induced dreams are weird.

Some of them she'd had before, featuring none other than her very own beloved Grant Ward. Images of them in the future; their wedding day, the birth of their first child, the child’s first Christmas etc etc. Although she enjoyed these dreams, she was embarrassed about how cliché they were, therefore would never ever breathe a word about them to a n y o n e. 

Others, however, were not so pretty. Flashbacks like the one about Polly, whilst short, were still painful and raw and caused an ache in her chest like a hippo was napping there. 

The bottle was removed from her lips several seconds later after she'd had a couple big gulps and the hand that had been holding down the flannel was now stroking her hair soothingly. Still partly in a “coma“ Skye was alarmed when she heard herself moaning softly in approval and leaning into the hand. From somewhere to her right, she heard Ward breathe out a quiet chuckle and she could picture his exact face without having to open her eyes. They dimples, the wrinkles in his forehead, the way his face relaxed and made him look effortlessly younger. And then, of course, there was the ovary-melting smile that could literally (and probably had literally) drop panties. She wished they could be together more than she'd ever wished for anything in her life so far. More than she wished she'd had a mum and dad (she had AC). More than she wished she wasn't abused (in the long run it had made her strong). More than she wished she could save the kids she didn't protect (but she saved a lot and now she was protecting the world). 

But of course, she was Skye.

He was Ward.

And there was May.

And an Asguardian staff.

Lots of anger.

Don't forget the heartbreak.

Basically.... Her current situation would probably give Jeremy Kyle a field day.

Somewhere in her fever-ridden mind, she realised that the soothing stroking of her hair had stopped. As had the sound of his even breathing. She wanted to wake up, to call him back, tell him that she needed him... but the darkness around her beckoned her closer, and who was she to refuse the world of the unconscious? After all, it'd bought her great peace in days gone by.


End file.
